Andrew Moore, Jace Fry and Max Engelbrekt take to the practice field Thursday.Ross William Hamilton/The Oregonian

OMAHA, Neb. – This could be the pitching matchup for
Friday's rematch between Oregon State and Mississippi State in the College
World Series:

OSU's Jace Fry, who has thrown a total of 4 1/3 innings this
season after his return from Tommy John surgery, against MSU's Luis Pollorena,
a cancer survivor who hasn't thrown in nearly three weeks.

It's good to be among the final four teams in Omaha – even
if there is a mound of unknowns at this point of the season.

Oregon State coach Pat Casey said Thursday the Beavers will
go with either Fry or Andrew Moore, the freshman All-American who faced the
Bulldogs in the CWS opener last Saturday, in Friday's rematch (noon PT on ESPN). OSU must win and beat MSU again Saturday to advance to the best-of-three final.

The somewhat counter-intuitive reasons to start Fry, who has
pitched only in relief this year, and bring the starter Moore out of the
bullpen, Casey and pitching coach Nate Yeskie said, are to let Fry find a
rhythm and to give the Bulldogs a different look.

"The reason I'd like to start Fry is just because of the
fact that he could get up, get hot, and we'll know when he's going to pitch and
how much he's going to pitch, and it'll be over with,'' Casey said. "It would
be nice to go with a real quality fourth starter right now, to go to somebody
they haven't seen.''

Moore will have five days' rest after his 105-pitch outing
against Mississippi State – hardly a tortuous turnaround, especially for a
pitcher Casey calls a "thoroughbred.''

Having iced his arm only two or three times this season,
Moore has one of those bodies that seems to pitch and recover effortlessly.

"He's just wiry,'' Yeskie said. "He's got some electricity
in his body that's different from some guys.''

And yes, Mississippi State (50-18) did get a good look at
Moore, but for much of the game, it was a shadow of Moore's self. For whatever
reason, Moore took the mound without his curveball or slider on that day and
ran into severe trouble in the second inning, when the Bulldogs scored three
runs and could have had more.

Whoever starts for Oregon State will have the luxury of
throwing in what has become the ultimate pitcher's park in college baseball.

Pollorena called TD Ameritrade Park the place "where fly
balls go to die.''

Just ask Danny Hayes, who ended the first meeting with a
deep drive to right that looked gone but was held in by a little wind and a big
expanse of outfield.

"The yard does play really big,'' Hayes said. "Focus line
drive down.''

Pollorena, who had leukemia as a child and went to Seattle
to meet Ken Griffey Jr. with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, probably will have the
same amount of leash as Fry, who has a pitch limit of about 50.

Asked before the CWS about how he is unafraid to go to his
bullpen in the fifth or sixth inning, Mississippi State coach John Cohen said,
"Fifth or sixth inning, that's good. If we can do that, I'll be thrilled.''

Cohen has one of the deepest and most talented bullpens in
college baseball, and he is unafraid to use it.

The Beavers (52-12) got a look at reliever Ross Mitchell,
who got the win against OSU to move to 13-0 on the season, and closer Jonathan
Holder.

"Our lefties, they just need to stay on their sliders – they
throw a lot of breaking balls,'' Smith said. "I think we were just pulling off
a little bit (against Mitchell). Maybe we were getting a little too big.''

If Moore is ineffective – and that's a big "if,''
considering his ERA is 1.57 – then the Beavers could turn to Dan Child, who had
a rocky outing against Kansas State after seeing no Pac-12 action since March.

"Somebody will be given the ball here in this College World
Series, if we're able to extend it long enough, that's going to have to get
somebody out for us that may not have pitched in the last two weeks,'' Casey
said.

Casey's plan is to see how Fry and Moore feel Friday morning
and make the call. Fry is "ready to go,'' Casey said. As for Moore, he wasn't
as sure.